"
Subsequent to the date of this act of Parliament a grant was made from
the "British Crown" to the Hudsons Bay Company of the exclusive trade
with the Indian tribes in the Oregon Territory, subject to a reservation
that it shall not operate to the exclusion "of the subjects of any
foreign states who, under or by force of any convention for the time
being between us and such foreign states, respectively, may be entitled
to and shall be engaged in the said trade." It is much to be regretted
that while under this act British subjects have enjoyed the protection
of British laws and British judicial tribunals throughout the whole of
Oregon, American citizens in the same Territory have enjoyed no such
protection from their Government. At the same time, the result
illustrates the character of our people and their institutions. In spite
of this neglect they have multiplied, and their number is rapidly
increasing in that Territory. They have made no appeal to arms, but have
peacefully fortified themselves in their new homes by the adoption of
republican institutions for themselves, furnishing another example of
the truth that self-government is inherent in the American breast and
must prevail.
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